Israel Bulldozes Muslim Graves in Jerusalem

[GUNNER]

Israel Bulldozes Muslim Graves in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, Aug 10, 2010 (AFP) - Israeli bulldozers backed by police destroyed dozens of gravestones in a Muslim cemetery in central Jerusalem on Tuesday, according to an AFP photographer.

The Islamic Movement accused the municipality of destroying more than 200 Muslim graves that had been recently renovated in a centuries-old cemetery in mostly Jewish west Jerusalem.

"Last night at around 12:30 am (2130 GMT) occupation forces entered the cemetery and destroyed around 200 graves," said Mahmud Abu Atta of the Al-Aqsa Foundation linked to the group, whose members are Arab citizens of Israel.

He said the bulldozers returned later in the day to destroy dozens more after a Jerusalem court rejected a petition to halt the work.

"The destruction is related to the issue of renovation. The Israeli establishment does not want us to renovate the graves so it is destroying them," he said.

The spokesman for the municipality did not respond to several phone calls, and a police spokesman said he was looking into the incident.

The demolition of the graves happened near the site of a planned Museum of Tolerance to be built by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a US-based Jewish human rights group.

The project has sparked controversy because of its proximity to the graves but Abu Atta said the latest demolition work was not related to the museum.

Israel's 1.3 million Arab citizens include the descendants of Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state after the 1948 war that attended its creation.

 

[Menes]

Zionists act like Nazis in Palestine.

 

[zagahaga]

sick fuckers

 

[Solomon2]

Fake gravestones. Just put up in the past few weeks. No graves underneath. It was an attempt to grab land from the park next door. Details: link

Zionists act like Nazis in Palestine.

Menes, do you understand that you have demonstrated that you have no idea of what you are talking about?

 

[GUNNER]

Fake gravestones. Just put up in the past few weeks. No graves underneath. It was an attempt to grab land from the park next door. Details: link

You can believe the word of Israel national news if you want to since we know which side are you on. But how come the exclusive story was published only after the AFP story came in? No wonder, the municipalty didn't answer calls from AFP.

The whole world knows who is grabbing land in Israel and demolishing villages...

AL-ARAQIB, Israel, Aug 10, 2010 (AFP) - Israeli police on Tuesday stormed a Bedouin village which they had completely razed in July, demolishing the villagers' partly-rebuilt homes on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

It was the third time in two weeks that police had raided Al-Araqib village in the Negev desert and levelled everything, refusing to recognise claims by the Bedouin that they own the land there.

A huge convoy of around 30 police vehicles stormed the village shortly after dawn, the Negev Coexistence Forum and an AFP correspondent said.

The operation came just ahead of the start of the fasting month of Ramadan which is marked by family reunions for the iftar -- the meal that breaks the fast.

The police destroyed a group of tent-like dwellings which had been erected by villagers in a first step to rebuilding their homes, which were destroyed on July 27 in a much bigger raid.

"There were about 100 policemen with five or six bulldozers and lorries. They destroyed the village for the third time in two weeks," said Haya Noah, head of the Negev Coexistence Forum.

The Bedouin say they own hundreds of thousands of dunams (each equivalent to 1,000 square metres) of land in the Negev but Israel rejects these claims.

Police confirmed the raid and said they would take all necessary steps to ensure the Bedouin did not return.

"For the third time, police officers and units returned to Al Araqib and removed a number of people based on a court order which says they must leave the area and move out of their shacks because they don't own the land," police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told AFP.

"If necessary, police will keep on returning to clear the area."

Exactly two weeks ago, more than 1,000 police raided the site and levelled 30 or 40 makeshift buildings which were home to around 300 Bedouin, uprooting hundreds of trees and carting off the villagers' possessions.

At the time, Rosenfeld said the homes had been "illegally built" and were destroyed in line with a court ruling issued 11 years ago which was never implemented.

A week later, police again raided the site and levelled the Bedouins' efforts to rebuild.

Noah said villagers had once again set about rebuilding their homes -- most of them wooden structures covered with plastic or fabric to keep off the sweltering desert heat.

Police had also taken two water tankers and a jeep, and confiscated building material being used by the villagers.

"They just don't want the Bedouin to live there and they are sending a strong message to others," Noah told AFP.

Villagers meanwhile remained defiant, with one woman saying they would die before leaving their land.

"Israel is a tyrant and will always be a tyrant. But God willing we will be steadfast on our land and stay in Al-Araqib. We'll die here before we leave," said Umm Fahed as her children climbed over the rubble of her home.

"God willing we will start fasting for Ramadan tomorrow, and then we will gather together and eat and drink," she said.

"Screw Israel, not just once but a hundred times."

The Jewish state has never recognised Bedouin claims of land ownership in the Negev and wants the population to relocate into seven government-planned townships.

But for the Bedouin such a move would involve giving up their claim to the land -- a step which most of them are unwilling to take.

One of the main ways in which the authorities push the Bedouin to leave their land is by not issuing permits for legal construction, forcing them to build illegally.

All structures built without permits are then condemned and destroyed by the authorities.

Figures provided by the Negev Coexistence Forum show that since 2005 the number of house demolitions has been escalating.

Around 160,000 Bedouin live in Israel, more than half of whom live in unrecognised villages in the Negev without municipal services like water and electricity. Many of the remainder also live in extreme poverty.

 

[Solomon2]

You can believe the word of Israel national news if you want to since we know which side are you on. But how come the exclusive story was published only after the AFP story came in?

You don't appear to be contesting the veracity of the Israeli account, so are you not by implication accepting that the Muslims who allegedly attempted the land grab are liars, thieves, and criminals?

The whole world knows who is grabbing land in Israel and demolishing villages...

Doubtful. You might want to try this stuff for a separate thread.

 

[GUNNER]

You don't appear to be contesting the veracity of the Israeli account, so are you not by implication accepting that the Muslims who allegedly attempted the land grab are liars, thieves, and criminals?

Sorry for not making my point clearly but yes i was indeed doubting the account of Israeli national news.

Doubtful. You might want to try this stuff for a separate thread.

I think this one would do just fine. Thanks for the advice though. I ain't really looking for a thread record !

 

[P.kid]

Fake gravestones. Just put up in the past few weeks. No graves underneath. It was an attempt to grab land from the park next door. Details: link

Ye ofcourse... And who declared that these are not gravestones? Isralis you say? Link that was given was from israelnationalnews.com nothing biased from there ofcourse.

 

[Solomon2]

Y Link that was given was from israelnationalnews.com nothing biased from there ofcourse.

Which do you value more, desired bias or accurate facts and context? As gifted American Senator Daniel Patrick Mohnihan once said, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."

 

[GUNNER]

Which do you value more, desired bias or accurate facts and context?

So the AFP story is 'desired bias' and israeli version is 'facts and context', according to you?

 

[Solomon2]

The AFP story lacks facts - the reporter didn't wait for answers from Israeli officials and police before filing the report - and thus deliberately pursued an anti-Israel bias. From the INN report (with its own photos and video) you can see that what these Arabs said lacks substance, to put it mildly.

 

[GentlemanObserver]

LOL @ Solomon... Everything is a conspiracy by the evil jew killing Arabs? Right!

 

[P.kid]

The AFP story lacks facts - the reporter didn't wait for answers from Israeli officials and police before filing the report - and thus deliberately pursued an anti-Israel bias. From the INN report (with its own photos and video) you can see that what these Arabs said lacks substance, to put it mildly.

Do you actually think as if the officials would want to be ashamed in front of the public by telling the truth? No I guess not. Again I say why would a news paper with the name 'israel' in it would want ashame Israel in front of the world?

 

[Solomon2]

Do you actually think as if the officials would want to be ashamed in front of the public by telling the truth? No I guess not.

You guess wrong. Israelis hang their dirty laundry in public. Just read Ha'aretz sometime.

 

[GUNNER]

The AFP story lacks facts - the reporter didn't wait for answers from Israeli officials and police before filing the report - and thus deliberately pursued an anti-Israel bias. From the INN report (with its own photos and video) you can see that what these Arabs said lacks substance, to put it mildly.

The AFP reporter did talk to police and wrote what they said, though they didn't say much.

As far as INN report with photos and videos is concerned, it proves nothing. I can give you two conflicting reports on the same issue using video and photos. For example, the raid on Turkish Ship. Israel used some footage and pics to put forward it's case that it's soldiers were beaten but there was other footage which showed what IDF was doing.

You will always believe the facts depending on which side you are on !